Find keywords here!

Monday, May 6, 2013

After seeing this, I just have one argument that I'll like to pick up:

Despite whatever
grievances or suspicion you have, or even if the election results is
challenged, think again before you ask for Mr. Obama's help or any sort of
foreign intervention. For those who are not affluent with world events, let me
put my views in a simple articulation.

First of all, the world is really not safe to
begin with. Thousands are dying every day; Southern Thailand Insurgency, Syria
Civil War, Iraqi Sectarian War,Myanmar bloodshed, North Korea’s threats to US and South
Korea, Bangladeshi riots, foreign government’s meddling in administrations
(read President Karzai's scandal)….conflict after conflict, bloodshed after
bloodshed. It’s a fragile world out there and big powers are gunning to
consolidate their position in 'strategic regions' like ours.

With the complicated South China Sea dispute, the
rise of China’s dominance in SEA, and US pivot to Asia-Pacific (US bases around
Philippines and Guam) around the corner, asking for foreign intervention is
like telling the world you wanna get invaded.Do you
still want to invite foreign intervention then?

Do you know who is Najib's ally in the
international arena? And which international leaders on Anwar's side? Do you
know how foreign policies can affect our domestic policies, social construct,
and political discourse? We need
to put our national interest in today’s hostile world.

Yes, the election results can be challenged, and we
should fight thru the right channel, with our own hands, not giving up to
foreign power to simply dictate our country's discourse. We might be ‘political chess’ for big
countries which are capable of ‘commanding’ the region.

There's
Bersih, IDEAS, and many other NGO's that we can sincerely work with.
Technically, we have a vocal civil society. Let us fight for our own cause in
our own way.

Monday, March 4, 2013

It's time for us to rally behind the government of the day and finish off threats that should've been done long time ago.

"

March 4 — There comes a time when Malaysians must unite and fight a common enemy, not bicker and blame each other over what is going wrong. That time is now for Sabah.

We need to support our policemen and troops facing Filipino militants who wish to lay claim over a land whose people decided to form Malaysia 50 years ago with Malaya and Sarawak.

We need to make sure the sacrifice of eight fallen policemen was not in vain, that their widows and children know their husband or father’s death has helped keep Malaysia intact and free.

We need to see what our priorities are now, to end the bloodshed and standoff in Sabah with Filipino militants who have broken our territorial integrity and laws.

We need to get our peace and security back. We stand united or we fall divided. Pure and simple.

The time for investigating what went wrong with our defence of Sabah will come. The time for apportioning blame and reveal the traitors will come.

Right now, we need our politicians to stop blaming each other and accusing each other of instigating this incursion. Such talk is not constructive and will not help our security forces do their job.

This is not the time for politics, and the less we hear from people like Special Affairs Department (Jasa) director-general Datuk Fuad Hassan the better. We don’t need him to tell us what to do and be patriotic.

We are Malaysians, we are patriotic and 100 per cent in support of our security forces in facing the threat of these Filipino militants.

We need to listen to people like Jasica Ahmad ‏who tweeted from her account @jasicaahmad, saying “sulu hashtag is scary... i prefer #prayforsabah more positivity and prayer than talking about politic and do nothing.”

Or for example, 12th Kopites1982® ‏who said in his @ElHazizyKopites Twitter account: “It matter not by which flag you stand up for, what matter is ‘Ini Rumah Kita’ #PrayForSabah #UniteAndFight”.

Right now, the Ministry of Defence is sending two battalions of soldiers as fast as possible to double the strength of security forces in Sabah. Budget carrier AirAsia is helping to send the troops there.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has vowed to stay there with his top brass and policemen until the situation is resolved. And Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has said the time for talk is over, it is time for action.

Malaysia has been patient enough. Our policemen and soldiers are at the forefront of an unexpected war with Filipino militants and locals who appear to owe their allegiance to the Sulu sultan and not our Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

A squad of 25 policemen went to investigate suspicious activity in Kampung Simunul in Semporna but only 19 came back alive after being rescued from an ambush on Saturday while six others died.

Two other policemen had died in Lahad Datu on Friday. That is eight deaths too much for a peaceful country like Malaysia and a beautiful state like Sabah.

So let’s get with the programme. Take action first, expel the militants or capture them to face the wrath of Malaysian law.

Only then we can have a review and inquest over what went wrong in Sabah. Not now. Now is the time to unite and fight back our enemies.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Pursuant to this, just wanna share an article about it from The Malaysian Inside. Kudos to the editor!Today, the Selangor Sultan ruled that non-Muslims cannot use the term “Allah” in their religion. Apart from Muslims, Christians from Sabah and Sarawak, and the Sikhs, use that Arabic term.

The state Ruler is repeating what Islamic authorities have been saying for years, based on a fatwa gazetted three years ago.

“His majesty the Selangor Sultan has made a decision and decreed that the word ‘Allah’ is a sacred word specific to Muslims and is strictly forbidden to use by any non-Muslim religion in Selangor as stated in a fatwa and gazetted on 18 February 2010,” MAIS secretary Datuk Mohd Misri Idris said in a statement.

Fact is, non-Muslims need not get excited by today’s statement. It really does not change anything for those who use the term in their prayers.

Fact is, Christians and Sikhs and people of other faiths apart from Islam do not look to the Selangor Sultan for guidance or direction in the practise of their religion

He is the leader of Muslims in the state. Period.

For non-Muslims, he is the head of state and is accorded all respect for that but he has no say in how non-Muslims practise their faith or call their god.

That is the reality of the situation in Malaysia, that no one or no faith can legislate how people want to worship or name their god.

After all, Selangor today is more cosmopolitan, having hosted Sikhs for more than a century and now Malaysians from Sabah and Sarawak who have used the term all their lives without affecting the Muslims.

So, keep calm and pray the way you have all these years.

After all, those in Selangor have to use the Arabic term when singing the state anthem. There has been no objection or any cleric wondering who “Allah” is in the lyrics.

This too will pass. And come up again from time to time. Move on from this. Pray as you will. Live in peace. That is as important as how you call God.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Last Sunday, my dutch friend Michael invited me to an event at Mandarin Oriental in downtown KL. It was unsuprisingly glamorous, and the food served were scrumptious. One food that I really enjoyed was the beef and chicken Satay, especially with the hotel's very special spicy peanut sauce. Naturally, I went to Michael and recommended him to try some of it. I was shocked by his reply.

The famous satay...not from Malaysia?

"Oh the sate? Yeah I've tried it. We have it back in my country too...almost everywhere!" Michael replied.

I was stunned by his in-depth knowledge about satay.

According to Michael, Satay or sate is originated from Indonesia, specially Javanese, where
spread out across Indonesia. It was brought back to Europe by Dutch
during colonialism era. Over there, it is commonly made of beef, chicken with spicy
peanut sauce and some other ingredients (which I couldn't remember). Sate can be found almost everywhere in Holland, in their restaurants and supermarkets.

"Oh no wonder la..." I awkwardly replied.

It got me thinking. Most of us Malaysians believe that Satay is one of our unique national dishes, invented here in our soil; but we were wrong.

Satay in Bali, Indonesia

So what is Satay? And where does it come from?

According to some websites, Satay is a shish kebab style dish (what, kebab?! ) that
has long been popular in Southeast Asia, particulary in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. It is most frequently
associated with Thai food, where satay
made from cubes of beef, chicken, or lamb may be dipped in a traditional
peanut relish or sauce.

Some say that it was invented in Thailand, while Michael and some of the websites (including wikipedia) says it was originated from Indonesia. Food historians are not certain if satay was first introduced in Indonesia or in Southeast Asia. Now, several countries in Southeast
Asia, like Malaysia, Singapore absorb this as local cuisine with
slightly different ingredient. Regardless of origin, all satay are praised by fans as delicious dishes.

In Malaysia, Satay comes in many forms, vary from culture and location. For most Klang Valley folks, the Satay Kajang was insanely famous back in the day, and many still visit Kajang for this very special delicacy. It was one of my childhood memories where my parents used to bring me there all the way from PJ just for dinner. Apart from the usual chicken and beef satay, I've also tried the rabbit and some other stuff that I don't really fancy. The satay, nasi pulut, the special wrappings....oh the childhood days.

That is Malay satay for me. As for chinese satay, or 'Lok-lok' in general understanding, is also a well received delicacy all over the country. The sate lok-lok in Penang, or the Satay Celup lok-lok in Malacca. The special thing about these lok-lok and celups are the fusion of hotpot and satay. You can also eat it with the peanut sause if hotpot isn't you 'thing'. Halal or non-halal? See who's the onwer lah!

That's all I know about Satay, and I bet there are plently more out there. What about you?

Sunday, February 26, 2012

I have been visiting bookstores lately to pick up new books
to read……………well, not exactly.

I was actually looking around on how to spend the RM200 book
voucher, courtesy of our caring government. I was planning to buy research
books for my thesis purposes, then I came across with a funny-titled book, HONK! If you're Malaysian (Haha I know right, it sounds really familiar)

I know right?

In this book, author Lydia Teh wrote essays of typical Malaysian tales with a
twist of hilarious Malaysian infamous
traits and anecdotes.

In one chapter, Lydia highlighted the fact of Malaysians
being overly generous despite being thrifty and kiasu. Sounds very contradicting? Let's see. Example, we would find an alternative route to escape the ridiculous highway toll, or to skimp on
RM1 parking fees, even with the risk of getting a hefty fine. But when ‘you’re-short-of-funds-for-a-life-saving-operation’
or ‘you’re-so-poor-you-can’t-afford-to-buy-milk-powder’, caring Malaysians will
donate their hard-earned money without any hesitation. Even when there are rampant
fraud and syndicate cases out in the streets nowadays, we Malaysians will still put the money in the hat for those who’re in need.

At the end of the chapter, Lydia concluded that ‘despite those
rotten apples, the basket of
Malaysian generosity still overflows. If our tourism ministry wants to revamp
its “Malaysia, truly Asia” tagline, they should consider “Malaysia, truly
generous.”

Indeed, being generous is one of our good traits, but
where the fishes are, there the bait will be; ugly Malaysians would abuse this virtuous
fact for personal gains.

And what are the reasons for Malaysians to really give their
money despite being stingy? Is it really out from sincerity? Or it is just merely ‘for
show’?

Since 5-2-12

I am Malaysian-Lah!

Chit Chat kopitiam

About Me

This blog is created to archive notes and interesting articles that are related with culture development and nation building; a platform of information on our culture and society reality, pieces of puzzle of success stories on building a civilised and harmony society.

With adequate research, information, and discussions, I hope this blog would serve as a 'blueprint' for our culture development and nation building.